Cardinal: Britain won’t give ISIS sex slaves sanctuary

By only resettling refugees from Syria, Britain is unfairly denying support for the victims of ISIS across the border in Iraq, Cardinal Vincent Nichols

has said.

The cardinal said the distinction was “arbitrary” and urged the Government to do more to help refugees from the region.

“All refugees should be offered assistance,” he said in a statement ahead of the World Day for Migrants and Refugees.

“It is clearly arbitrary to make a distinction between people fleeing from the fighting in Syria and people fleeing the fighting in Iraq, particularly as the UK Government has recognised this is effectively the same conflict.

“The current approach means that many of the most vulnerable people, including Yazidi women and girls who have escaped from being held in sexual slavery by Daesh [ISIS] and cannot access appropriate support in the region, are excluded from this opportunity for resettlement abroad on the basis of their nationality.”

​How to continue reading…

This article appears in the Catholic Herald magazine - to read it in full subscribe to our digital edition from just 30p a week